Relapse Warning Signs: Unwanted Thoughts and OCD – The Real Cause

Disclaimer: Marcus is NOT a doctor or a trained addiction counselor. The information in these videos is provided as a resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. Nor is it to be used as a substitute when professional diagnosis and treatment is needed. Please seek professional help when needed. Alcoholism is serious… DON’T mess around! Visit www.TalkSober.com/helpor get professional help.

Just the other night, I was trying to go to bed. It was really late—2:30 in the morning. I was sitting there with all this work to do and all these things to catch up on. I was laying there trying to sleep, and all these thoughts were going through my brain. Did I turn this off? Did I turn that off? Did I finish this website? Do I need to do this? Do I need to do that? Did I answer all my emails? What about the bills to pay? What about all of this?

All these thoughts were going on in my head, and it started to worry me a little bit. I thought to myself, “Wait a minute. Why am I thinking all this stuff?”

Then I forgot one important fact: I had drunk a cup of coffee to stay up. The coffee had been affecting the working of my mind. It had started to speed things up and make my thoughts go really, really fast.

Sometimes you get so wrapped up in your thoughts that you don’t realize how much they start to affect you. So many people get caught up in their thoughts, thinking they are real. I think OCD thoughts. I think worry thoughts. I think sad thoughts. These play into the working of the mind.

We want to think about the structure of the mind. What is it doing? What paths are the thoughts taking? Then you realize that thoughts are coming up because of the way your mind is working.

There are certain things, not just your thoughts, that affect the working of the mind. The thoughts aren’t what make your brain go crazy. You may start to realize that coffee, soda, sleep, different things are going to affect the working of your mind. When you feed it certain things, it’s going to get hyper. When you feed it other things, it’s going to slow down.

No matter what, if the working of your mind is affected, then it’s going to find something to focus on. If you’re a worrying person, your mind is going to find something to worry about. If you have racing thoughts, your mind will find something to be speedy about.

What helps me is realizing that these things happen. You might think, “Well, my mind races and races.” That could be because you’re just really intelligent and you need something to focus on. Once you realize that, you know there’s nothing really wrong with you. It’s just the way your mind works.

In order to prevent relapse, it helps to understand that certain things affect the working of your mind. Instead of sitting there and think you’re going crazy because you’re thinking about something, you can remind yourself why you’re thinking that way. You can start to learn to forgive yourself more because you’re not getting hung up on each individual type of thought.

At TalkSober.com/working, there is a list of things to watch out for that will affect the way your mind works. Remember that the thoughts are okay—that’s just your mind doing what it does. Over time, you’ll realize that your thoughts aren’t the problem, and you’ll be okay.